US electric utility Xcel Energy has launched a request for proposals (RFP) for solar and battery storage projects to replace its Allen S. King coal-fired power plant in the US state of Minnesota.
Xcel Energy is keen to replace the coal plant with a new 650MW solar project, or ones “that combine solar with energy storage, such as batteries”, as the utility puts it.
The Allen S. King plant has produced electricity since 1958, and through the RFP, Xcel will replace this facility with a renewable project that will contribute to the company’s decarbonisation goals. These targets reducing its carbon emissions by 85% compared to 2005 levels by 2030, and retiring all of its coal-fired power plants by the same year.
The proposed solar project will also have a larger capacity than the soon-to-be retired coal plant, which boasts a capacity of 598MW, as the utility looks to not only replace its fossil fuel capacity with renewables, but increase its total power output.
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